Dear Minister Steinmeier,
The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the European Union, to consider the Uzbek government's appalling press freedom record during your May 14 discussions on the possible lifting of targeted EU sanctions imposed against Uzbekistan in the aftermath of the 2005 Andijan crisis. As Germany holds the EU presidency, we ask you to take a leadership role in bringing this issue to the forefront.

Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III
and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the
now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane,
was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital,
Algiers, by four well-dressed men carrying walkie-talkies. According to
eyewitnesses who later spoke with his wife, the men called out
Fahassi's name and then pushed him into a waiting car. He has not been
seen since, and Algerian authorities have denied any knowledge of his
arrest.

Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four well-dressed men carrying walkie-talkies. According to eyewitnesses who later spoke with his wife, the men called out Fahassi's name and then pushed him into a waiting car. He has not been seen since, and Algerian authorities have denied any knowledge of his arrest.

Fahassi, a reporter for the state-run radio station Alger Chaîne III and a contributor to several Algerian newspapers, including the now-banned weekly of the Islamic Salvation Front, Al-Forqane, was abducted near his home in the al-Harrache suburb of the capital, Algiers, by four well-dressed men carrying walkie-talkies. According to eyewitnesses who later spoke with his wife, the men called out Fahassi's name and then pushed him into a waiting car. He has not been seen since, and Algerian authorities have denied any knowledge of his arrest.

The attorney general ordered editor Nasab's arrest on blasphemy charges
after the religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, Mohaiuddin
Baluch, filed a complaint about his magazine. "I took the two magazines
and spoke to the Supreme Court chief, who wrote to the attorney general
to investigate," Baluch told The Associated Press.